The role of language(s) in transformative Higher Education in Africa: a capabilities perspective

Against the backdrop of discussions and debates about the potential for Higher Education (HE) to have a transformative role and to foster processes and competencies for sustainable development, this paper shines a spotlight on the role of language-in-education policies and practices and how they might work to help or hinder these ambitions. Drawing on a review of existing literatures relating to capabilities and HE in Africa and language(s) in African education, this conceptual paper argues that we must pay much greater attention to the role of language(s) if we aspire to humanising learning processes that enable personal and societal transformation. In doing so, we advocate for the value of taking a capabilities perspective to the study of language(s)-in-HE, contending that this has the potential to extend the scope of existing debates beyond arguments about the value of individual named languages, and to contribute an improved understanding of the influence of language attitudes, policies and practices across a multidimensional set of valued capabilities.